Digitally signed YOGESH by YOGESH 2025:CGHC:61008 TIWARI TIWARI Date: 2025.12.16 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR WPS No. 1478 of 2023 Satyanarayan Agharaiya S/o Late Shri Kaliram Aghariya Aged About 62 Years R/o Village - Kapan, Akaltara, Tahsil - Akaltara, Police Station -

Naila, District Janjgir-Champa Chhattisgarh.

... Petitioner versus

1 - State Of Chhattisgarh Through - Secretary, Urban Administration And Development Department, Mahanadi Bhawan, Mantralaya Atal Nagar, Nava Raipur, District Raipur Chhattisgarh.

2 - Commissioner Municipal Corporation Korba District - Korba Chhattisgarh.

... Respondents (Cause-title taken from Case Information System)

For Petitioners : Ms. Upasana Sewte, Advocate on behalf of Mr. Bhupendra Kumar Pandey, Advocate For Respondent No.1 : Mr. Rahul Tamaskar, Govt. Advocate For Respondent No.2 : Mr. Pankaj Agrawal, Advocate Hon’ble Shri Amitendra Kishore Prasad, Judge

Order on Board

15.12.2025

1 The petitioner has filed this writ petition with the following prayers:-

“10.1 Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to call entire record in respect of decision of DPC for promotion to the post of Assistant Engineer.

10.2 Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to set-aside the order dated 19/10/2020 and letter dated 27/07/2020.

10.3 Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to direct respondent authority to open the seal covered envelop.

10.4 Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to direct respondent authority to grant promotion to the post of Assistant Engineer from the date when juniors to the petitioners have been granted promotion and other consequential benefits.

10.5 Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to direct respondent authority to count seniority of petitioner from initial date of appointment

13/11/1984.

10.6 Any other relief which may Hon'ble Court deem fit in the circumstances.”

2 Brief facts of the case, in a nutshell, are that the petitioner was initially appointed as a Sub-Engineer on 13.11.1984 in the Special Area Development Authority (SADA), Korba, and continuously worked on the said post, initially on an ad-hoc basis till 01.09.1988 and thereafter on regular basis w.e.f. 02.09.1988, without any break.

3 Upon dissolution of SADA, Korba, all its assets, liabilities, officers and employees, including the petitioner, stood merged into Nagar Palik Nigam, Korba. The petitioner has rendered more than 37 years of continuous, unblemished service. However, in the seniority list of Sub-Engineers published on 19.12.1997, the petitioner’s date of appointment was erroneously shown as 02.09.1988 instead of 13.11.1984, resulting in wrongful placement below his juniors.

4 Despite repeated representations pursuant to orders of the Court, the respondents failed to correct the seniority or reckon the petitioner’s ad-hoc service for seniority purposes. The respondents justified inaction on the ground of pendency of an ACB criminal case and a departmental enquiry, keeping the DPC proceedings in sealed cover. The contempt petition filed by the petitioner was disposed of with liberty to challenge the impugned action separately. Notwithstanding several requests, the respondents have not judiciously considered the petitioner’s claim for reckoning his ad-hoc service from the initial date of appointment for seniority, without assigning any cogent or lawful reason.

5 Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner has already superannuated and, as such, the prayer seeking actual promotion to the post of Assistant Engineer has become infructuous. However, it is contended that the petitioner is still entitled to notional promotion from the date on which his juniors were promoted, along with all consequential service and monetary benefits, including fixation of pay and revision of pensionary benefits, subject to the final outcome of the writ petition.

6 On the other hand, learned State counsel submits that the present writ petition is wholly misconceived, devoid of substance and liable to be dismissed at the threshold, as